Caetano storm: two weeks later, residents still do not have internet in Creuse

The traces of passage of the storm Caetano end of November 2024 are still visible in Creuse. A fiber cable is still on the ground in the town of Saint-Agnant-près-Crocq, near Felletin. A dozen residents are connected to this cable according to the Dorsal union, responsible for deploying fiber in Creuse, some no longer have internet and no longer have a reliable telephone network.

“We manage to communicate with our customers but we have to stay there”said Jean-Christophe Chaussat, pointing to his office. If he wants to telephone his customers, this manager of an agricultural equipment repair garage can no longer go to his workshop. His cell phone has become a landline: it leans against a pen holder on his desk. “I think I’m going to set up a carrier pigeon farm, like during the war”he jokes.

This touch of humor masks Jean-Christophe Chaussat's annoyance.“Everything is dematerialized today: VAT declaration, orders, salaries. Fortunately, my two employees are my wife and my son but they do not have their salary,” breathes the Creuseois.

Teleworking without internet, a challenge for these Creuse residents

In the town, several residents work remotely, this is the case for Laura. “He is technically unemployed”smiles this independent photographer and graphic designer, pointing to her turned off computer. “I have neither internet nor telephone, all I have left is my cell phone but it works very poorly. You have to stick to the window to make a call but that's not what that there is more practical”.

She is therefore looking for solutions: “I go to my relatives who still have the internet or to coworking spaces but that inevitably entails costs so it’s all about finding a balance during that time.” A few hundred meters from Laura's house, Gilles is also an independent graphic designer. He obtained an increase in his internet package for his phone from his operator but his daily life remains disrupted. “I have to postpone appointments, I have to use videoconferencing to avoid traveling but since this gust of wind, that complicates things a little.”

A return to normal soon

The Dorsal union, responsible for the deployment of fiber in Creuse and the repair of the cable, ensures that a team of technicians will intervene this Friday, December 6 in the morning. The connection will return little by little but a return to normal is expected by the same evening.